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Croquettes
Hello,
Croquettes are very typical in Spain as a tapa in bars or as an appetizer. There are several ways to prepare them around the world, but my approach will be a very spanish one 🙂
Ingredients ( ~ 16 croquettes)
- 2 eggs
- 100 gr breadcrumbs
- 200 gr flour
- 200 gr ham
- Ground nutmeg
- 100 gr unsalted butter
- ½ litre of milk
Start cutting ham in very small pieces. I used about 200 gr of ham, but you have to use less amount if your ham is too salty. Also you can add other ingredients as for example chicken or tuna.
On a pot add 100 gr of unsalted butter, when butter is almost molten add cut ham, stir it until butter is totally molten. Then add 100 gr of flour, stir while cooking it for about 1 minute until flour is cooked. Then add ½ litre of milk at ambient temperature and a bit of ground nutmeg. Move constantly with a wooden spoon to avoid lumps and it will be ready in a couple of minutes when you can see the bottom of your pot when moving with the spoon.
Empty the pot in a recipient and level the surface. Cover with a transparent film stick to the surface to avoid crust in the surface. Let cold and maintain in the fridge until next day.
Next day with a spoon take portions of the dough and give them a cylindrical shape with your hands. Try to get always a similar amount of dough so each croquettes result in a very similar size. Â Once you have all your croquettes shaped, pass each of them first in flour, then in whisked egg and finally in breadcrumbs.
In a pot heat oil, adding enough to immerse the croquettes. When you insert a wooden spoon in the oil and bubbles appear the temperature of oil is right to fry. Now immerse the croquettes in small batches cooking them about 40 to 50 seconds. Retire them over a paper towel to absorb the excess of oil, and let the oil heat again between each batches of croquettes.
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
Stuffed bread (with ham and cheese)
Hello,
This is a polyvalent recipe, you can use it for breakfast, at launch time, on a picnic … It takes its time to prepare mostly because you need the yeast to do its work, and it works at its own rythm, just be patient 🙂
Ingredients:
- ½ kg flour
- 250 ml milk
- 70 gr butter
- 70 gr sugar
- 1 egg
- Baker’s yeast (about 5 gr, dry)
- 250 gr ham
- 200 gr brie cheese
Heat 250 ml of milk and 70 gr of butter until butter is dissolved and let cool until a warm temperature. Then add ½ kg of flour in a bowl through a colander, add also 70 gr of sugar, baker’s yeast, a coffee spoon of salt and the milk with butter. Mix well first with a spatula or wooden spoon and then with your hands. Once well mixed you need to knead it on a table, keep kneading it for about 10 minutes. If it is still sticky just let rest for about 20 minutes and then will be non sticky.
Let the dough rest in a bowl cover with  a cloth and let rest for at least one hour.
After that time the dough will double in volume now you have to  smash it with your hands and then with the help of a rolling pin. Just stretch the dough without hesitating too much about the shape.
Once strechted cover with 2 or 3 layers of ham. Over the ham place some sticks of brie cheese.
Fold the dough and try to cover the ends. Let rest for about 1 hour. Finally paint the bread with a whisked egg and cook in the oven at 350º F (180º C ) for 20 minutes.
Music included in the video (Airport Lounge) is composed and their rights belong to Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), the music is distributed with a CC-by license.
Lentils
Hello!
On our spanish site a reader proposed us to cook lentils, which a very common recipe in Spain in the table spoon dish sort of category. I already had this idea in mind but never get materialized until now. This recipe is similar to my mother’s lentils, and I was satisfied with the result so I share it with you:
Ingredients (for 2 people)
- 150 gr lentils
- 100 gr ham
- 100 gr chorizo
- 2 carrots
- 2 medium size potatoes
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tomato
- 1 onion
- Some bay leaves
Hi to prepare this recipe start adding 150gr of lentils in a recipient, then cover with water and let stay the lentils in water for at least ½ hour. No it’s time to cut some ingredients. Cut the chorizo onto small slices, as it has lot of fat use less chorizo and more ham, and even don’t use chorizo at all if you prefer. Cut 1 onion is 4 pieces. Peel 2 potatoes and cut in regular pieces.
On a big pot add 2 carrots (well cleaned so they won’t left dust), the onion, the potatoes, one tomato cut in half, 100 gr of ham cut in really small pieces, chorizo, some bay leaves, 3 peeled garlic cloves, the lentils and some salt.
Add plenty of water, cover wit a lid and cook between 50 minutes and 1 hour. Check if you need more salt, near the end of cook time taste lentils to check if you need to cook them for more time.
This recipe is a good choice for taking tupperware to work, but it will be better if you remove the potatoes.
Chicken with parmesan
Hi,
I saw Jamie Oliver doing this recipes, this is one of these ideal recipes to start cooking, because it’s easy to do and have a great taste, so you will encourage to cook other recipes 🙂
Ingredients (1 person):
- 1 chicken breast
- 1 ham rasher
- 1 lemon
- Parmesan cheese (grated)
- Thyme
- Rosemary
Put a chicken breast over transparent film, add salt, rosemary and thyme, grate a bit of lemon skin, cover with grated parmesan cheese, and finally cover with 2 ham rashers. Wrap with the film and bash with a pan. Doing this the chicken breast will have an uniform thicknes to cook better, and will absorve the spices to taste better.
Add olive oil to pan, and when oil is hot add the chicken breast with the ham side down, add salt and pepper. And cook for 7-8 minutes turning chicken breast several times.
Stuffed mushrooms
Ingredients:
- 10-12 big mushrooms
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 100 gr ham
- Parsley
- Gorgonzola cheese
Start removing the mushroom walk with a knive from big clean mushrooms. Chop an onion. Chop 100 gr of ham.
Add olive oil in a pan, and when it’s hot add the onion, the ham and 2 crushed garlic cloves. Cook it for 8 to 10 minutes stiring frequently.
In a grilling add olive oil and when the grilling is hot add the mushrooms with the walk side down. Over them add salt and olive oil. Move around the grilling and let cook for about 5 minutes. Then turn them. With a spoon fill mushrooms with the cooked ham. Add parsley. Finally add a spoon of gorgonzola cheese over each mushroom, if you prefer you can try with another cheese, grating it if it is not a creamy one. Let them cook for 10 minutes and the recipe is ready.
Recipes from Spain 